Windows Photo Gallery Collage

Create an Auto Collage of your favorite animal. (Note: The auto collage feature is found in the 2012 version of Windows Live. It is included in the windows essential 2012 package and as a separate download, both available for free at windows.microsoft.com under the Downloads section.)

1. Click on the Start Menu, then All Programs. Click on Photo Gallery. Minimize the gallery.

2. You will need to find 10 photos of your chosen animal. Name each photo by animal name and number (i.e. penguin1, penguin2, penguin3, etc.). All the pictures should be saved in the Pictures folder.

3. In Mozilla Firefox, do Image searches for the animal you would like to use. Whenever you find an image you want to use, click on it and click View Image. Right click on the image and select Save image as. Don’t worry if the photo is not a jpeg when you save it. You will change the file type of all the photos to jpeg later.

4. Use the snipping tool on at least 1 of the photos instead of the Save image as option. To use the snipping tool, click on the image and click View Image. Click on the Snipping Tool program in your taskbar or in the Start menu under Accessories. Click and drag your mouse from one corner of the picture to the other. Review the snip and if it looks good save it as a jpeg.

5. Once you have 10 photos, open up Windows Explorer. Click on the Pictures folder in the pane on the left. Click once on each picture and look in the information pane at the bottom of the window to check and see if the picture is a jpeg. (You can also hover over the picture to see file information). If you find a picture that isn’t, click on the Paint program in your taskbar or in your Start menu under Accessories. Click on the blue tab in the top left corner and select open. Choose the picture that is not a jpeg and open it. Click on the blue tab again and hover over save as. Click on jpeg in the menu options that appear. Keep the file name the same and click Save. Repeat this process for any other pictures that are not jpegs.

6. Once all your pictures are jpegs, click on the photo gallery in your taskbar. All your pictures should be listed in there. Checkmark all 10 of your photos then click on the Create tab. Select Auto Collage. Name the file after the animal you picked, make sure the file type is jpg, then click Save.

7. Click back over to Windows Explorer. Right click in the viewing pane, hover over New, and select Compressed (zipped) folder. Name the folder after the animal you picked, then click anywhere in the viewing pane to finish creating it. Highlight all your pictures including the collage. Click and drag them into the zip folder.